What's Lost
by ZeenoMCR
Summary: Rose finds her way back. Set during "The Runaway Bride", during the time when they're at the wedding reception and the Doctor is remembering his lost companion. Faint 10/Rose. If you'd like to continue this, PM me, as I have no wish to.


The Doctor watched the wedding reception with a frown as he simultaneously tried to figure out how a certain white-clad, ginger woman (also known as Donna) had gotten on his ship, the practically unbreachable TARDIS, and remembered the blonde, spunky Londoner (Rose Tyler) that he had lost. For the most part, that would be a feat to commend. But this was no ordinary man. This was the Doctor, the last of the Time Lords of the planet Gallifrey. On the forefront of his mind was Rose—_his_ Rose, though he knew that would never be true—whom he had loved far too much and whom he had lost. His twin hearts broke as he saw the dancing couples and remembered a time when he had huge ears and a love of a certain leather jacket. A time when Rose had chosen to dance with him—an old, war-torn alien—over the charming Captain Jack Harkness.

So blind in his misery was the Time Lord, that he didn't hear the loud booming crack outside—rather, if he did hear, he mistook it for thunder. But it wasn't thunder. Perhaps a mile away, gasping for breath and laying on the ground, was a moderate-sized brunette woman—Rose Tyler. She pushed herself upright, using the blue police box as balance—the TARDIS, as luck would have it. Her eyes glowed gold for just a second then faded back to the dark brown they usually were. Rose grinned widely, and stepped inside the box. She laid her hand on the Time Rotor, whispering, "Hello, old girl. You remember me, yeah?"

The humming of the machine kicked up a notch, as if to say, _"Of course!"_

"Where's the Doctor?" Rose asked. "Out saving the world, I take it?"

The TARDIS hummed again, flickering the lights in the hall leading out of the control room. Rose set off, knowing better than to argue with the ship. She ended up in a room filled with row upon row and floor upon floor of clothes, and raised an eyebrow. "You want me to change?"

_Hum!_ Rose smiled, happy that for once, she'd gotten a straight answer out of the machine. She walked over to the only rack that wasn't overflowing, and saw the red dress there. "This? Really?"

Another hum filled the air as Rose moved over to the worn old jacket beside it, and gently ran her fingertips across the sleeve. "That's… that's his old jacket."

_Hum!_ "Well, if you're sure, old girl."

Rose changed quickly, even pulling on a pair of black trainers in case of any running she had to do. Which was a probability considering the Doctor was involved. As she walked out of the wardrobe, she slipped into the jacket, blinking a few times and pausing as she realised it had shrunk down to her exact size. She glanced at the Time Rotor when she entered the control room. "The clothes change size, don't they?"

The TARDIS's accompanying hum was somehow smug. Rose stepped outside, not consciously knowing the right direction but somehow managing to get where she needed to be. Several men noticed Rose the second she stepped inside, one going so far as to whistle and say, "Hel-_lo_ there, beautiful. No date tonight?"

Rose fought to keep a small smile. "Sorry, not interested."

"Oi, don't be like that," the man pleaded, reaching out and grabbing her arm in his desperation.

That was the wrong move. Rose's eyes flashed gold for a moment, lighting her face up. It was very wolflike, as the poor man would later think. The man whimpered loudly. And then she spoke, in a deadly quiet yet very powerful voice. "You will not touch me. You will let me go and you _will not touch me._"

The man let go, scurrying backwards. Rose's voice went back to normal, and she smiled slightly. "Now. Shoo."

He ran. Rose held her head high and walked through the crowd.

Meanwhile, the Doctor looked up at the whimper of a grown man. A woman, small in stature but somehow rather imposing stood in front of him, her head tilted slightly. Like a wolf inspecting its prey. He heard every single quiet word she said, and the man fell back. The aura left the brunette woman, and she said one more thing, then turned to walk in his direction. The crowd parted before the magnificent woman in red. He finally took a long look at her face, and blinked a few times. This was _not_ Rose. Not Rose. Not his Rose. She was gone. Well, he thought that, anyway.

The brunette woman smiled at him as she propped herself up against the bar beside him. "You remember me?"

And with her voice, the grin with her tongue between her teeth, and her appearance together... he believed that it was her. Rose reached out to grab his hand, but the Doctor stepped forwards and grabbed her into a tight hug, spinning her around once and setting the dizzy girl on the ground. He pulled her close again, and she closed her eyes, content and glad.

He smelled like tea and the distinctive TARDIS smell and... bananas? Her eyebrows came together in confusion, but she let it drop. She was home. She didn't care.

That was about the moment that the Doctor noticed what Rose was wearing and pulled back slightly, still holding onto her. "Wait. Is that my old jacket?"

"Oi, blame her, not me." Rose shot back, referring to the TARDIS. "Did you know that the clothes change sizes?"

He nodded. "Yeah. One of her little tricks. Now, I've got a question for you."

"What?"

"How did you get back?"

Rose smiled at him; a sort of smile that wasn't exactly sad, but not exactly happy. "Turns out the Bad Wolf liked me a bit _too_ much. She stayed—just a bit of her, enough to change me. I don't age and I won't regenerate, but I think I'll live about as long as the TARDIS. How that works is that the Bad Wolf is the TARDIS, basically, but the more primal side of the TARDIS. I'm linked to her. I don't think I'll die until she does, or at least I'll become mortal at that point.

"I got back because the TARDIS used a bit of her energy to draw me back through, and the Bad Wolf was pushing at the boundaries of the universe... pushing at any little crack or crevasse. It hurt. It was worse than any pain I've ever felt. But I'm alive. I'm so, so alive and I'm here."

The Doctor smiled at her. He didn't like that she'd been in pain, but she was right. She was alive, and there with him. A slower song came on, and Rose pulled the Doctor to the middle of the dance floor. They swayed and pivoted, not really dancing, but rather using it as an excuse to hold each other tightly and not let go.

And so they didn't. Not ever. Because the Doctor and Rose Tyler... The Oncoming Storm and the Bad Wolf... They were meant for each other. Wholly and truly. Forever.


End file.
